The Happiest Refugee

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Between the 1950s and 1970s, war between the pro-communist North and the U.S.- supported South plagued the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam. As a result of the conflict, multitudes of Vietnamese civilians fled their country of origin to find a more stable life for themselves and their families. Read the links below and consider the following questions: What were the major effects of the Vietnam War on its citizens? Who were the “Vietnamese Boat People” and where were they going? What information do historians have about these boat journeys today?

Teaching Suggestion: Use these questions as an opportunity to introduce the war in Vietnam; depending on students’ grade level, this information could be paired with their U.S. History course. Rather than focusing on the conflict itself, encourage students to think about the effects of war on civilians, mainly in terms of economic and social impacts, which ultimately led to an exodus of people risking their lives during the dangerous journey from Vietnam. Students should incorporate both links, as well as their own research (optional), into their responses.